Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1887-01-26
wintey Scenes in Nexico.

seconded metter.]
Winter Scenes in Mexico.
Correspondence Of the Alexandra GAZETTE
CITY OF MEXICO, Jan. 15.-Winter exists
here only in name, for it is q land OF per
petual spring time. At presenta!l kiads Of
vegetation is green, and where irrigation is
used the gardens are growing, vegetables
are being gathered and all kinds OF flowers
ara in blossom as they were in Jnue.
Peaches, pears and the various kinds Of trop
ical fruits are in the market besides hne
fresh strawberries and various other kinds
| Of small fruit are to be seen each Gay. Gfoen
corn, watermelons and various kinds OF
young and tender squashes for table use ere
TO be had a. all seasons. The public grounds
are in bloom with many OF cur northern
house plants and the climate is so warH2 st
present that all kinds Of shrubs and small
plants are as fresh and vigorous as they
were five months ago. The lawns enG pub.
lie gardens are moved regularly as we NOV
them in summer. Burros, loaded with
green alfalfa hay, pumpkins, onions, ceb-
bage, green corn, spring chickens, green
peas. pod beans, and pursley greens,
are common scenes each day in the
market. The flower stands are filed with
the choicest flowers, aud gardening is the
order of the day. Annual flowers of the
north become perennial here, and all trees
are ever green. Ripe corn and corn plant
ing is seen On the same acre, and ripe
oranges and orange blossoms are seen on
the same tree. In short, everyssgreen plant
or tree, every blooming flower and ripe
fruit that saw in June, July and August
may be seen and enjoyed here on Christ
mas day and in fact every Gay throughout
the winter.
The birds and insects, in many respects,
are more numerous now than in summer
owing to the migration from the north. So
house.fies, feas, gnats and mosquitoes are
always with US; also those other nightly
creatures, that worry us in Our dreams, are
ever here aud always active. Then the
more repulsive human parasites are natur-
al product Of the country, and at ali times
are more numerous than our northern feas
in flea time. They are SO numerous that no
class of people are always entirely secure
| from them and indeed there is majority
OF the population who are always
stocked. Yet there are bees, butter
flies, bursting buds and flower blooms,
also beautiful birds Of plumage and
sweet song all which tend 10 enliven
and enhance the beauty Of the winter scene
in the tropic but we also have snakes in
the grass, tarantulas in the houses, horned
toads, alicrans, scorpions and the poisonous
centipede, which lie in cur pathway al
night and are ever ready 10 deprive stroll
in the moonlight OF all It's tropics! romance.
The people are not compelled ito lay in
winter stores of any kind, neither do they
suffer from frost bites, bsd colds, cor DO
they have to haul and chop wood, make
Gres and go to bed and get up in cold rooms,
build fires and 90 about in their sock feet
until their boots thaw ont, nor Go they chop
watering places in the ice, shovel cut snow
drifts and haw out pump spouts before
breakfast Ye: they have to do the most Of
their wcrk in the mud Gnd rain during that
six months OF the year in which without
fall ii rains every DAY. Tho other six
months there is u complete drouth, during
which time every thing where irrigation is
not possible is as dry and barren as our cold
est winter. The dust is then often six
inches deep in She highway Water is haul
ed from far and rear In parts sand storms
are terror far more disagreeable than o
Texas norther or Dakota blizzard. The
cattle and all kinds of stock die by the
thousands, birds fly away, flowers never
bloom All vegetable supplies are scarce
and expensive The heat of the sun is not
oppressive, yet all seek the shade, snd tie
monotony is oppressive in the extreme. All
nature is at rest and life of man and beast is
a half sleep and sluggish existence, which
is far more oppressive than our most severe
northern winter.
Thus life wears slowly away and the ma
turity in this climate is much esrly in man
and beas and hence the length Of life is
perceptibly shorter than farther north.
The wet season corresponds with onr SUM
mer and our winter is the dry season here,
so just at present cloudy day Or drop of
rain will not be seen before next spring, and
even the dews we so often see in the north
are at present among the rRrities, during
the six months of drouth. The streets of
the capital must be sprnkled every day
during the winter. Many of every
class are wearing straw hats and
linen clothes and go out with umbrellas as
6 protection against the heat of the sun.
The lower class are bare-footed, and not
one house in thousand has any means of
warming them, and though warm as the
climate is in winter, fires would often be
source of comfort, for to be without them
is source of great discomfort for those who
are accustomed to them.
Thus, while the country has many pleas
ant features, the long drouth, continued
rain, the hordes of pestiferous insects and
the lack of that pleasant variety of climate
produced by spring, summer, fall and WIN
ter, makes it 8 country not so productive as
the temperate zone in the variety of its pro-
ducts, as regards the staples of life, yet in
its kind all is luxuriant and beautiful to
look upon for the stranger, but in time the
scenes become an oppressive monotony, and
hence far more pleasant to see and leave
than live among. And in time we learn
that Providence isnta respecter of persons,
and that the land of our birth has as many